As evidence shows, more and more students are becoming victims of dishonest essay writing services that originate from Ukraine and other non-English speaking countries. It makes me wonder - how do students actually find these services and what can be done to protect them?
After doing some detailed research, I came to the following conclusions that may help students avoid scam traps and other tricky deals.
Fraudulent Essay Sites:1. Create dozens (sometimes hundreds) of websites under different web addresses. At first sight they all look different, but when a student fills out the order form, his/her request ends up in the same place, ie. is available to be taken by the same group of writers. In result, when student was scammed by EssaySite-A.com he/she may think that ordering from EssaySite-B.com will bring different results. That's the first and the most common mistake.
2.
Create several fake "essay review" websites that rank their own websites above... their other websites. All these "reviews" and "rankings" are 100% fabricated and written by mostly ESL writers they predominantly work with. Reading of those "reviews" is a complete waste of time.
3. Have numerous fake "departments" (eg. "Quality Assurance Department," "Billing Department," "Human Resources Department" etc.) to give a false impression that they have a civilized structure of a serious organization. In reality, however, most decisions are being made by a single "Director" who usually runs such a "company" from a local pub. Just like in the former Soviet Union, these people like using formal organizational names to make up the lack of real achievements.
4. Hire Internet criminals (also based in a third-word country) to
hack,
compromise, and
steal from government, university, and business websites. Some students may find links to their sites on such compromised websites mistakenly thinking they are endorsed by them.
5. Work with Internet criminals to get fake followers and endorsements on social media sites like Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter. That is, however, a relevant and easy to spot signal for potential buyers because the rule is simple: If an essay service has more than several dozens of followers or endorsements, it means (with 95% accuracy) that the service is run from a third-world country which specialize in hacking social media platforms for unmerited financial gain.
6. Do not post their real mailing address on their websites any more (
thanks to the long-term member of this forum who exposed their fake addresses in the past). They may use fake postal addresses (usually from London or other big cities). Internet-generated phone numbers or emails are the only ways to contact them because a typical customer will not be able to determine that the person answering the phone or email is in fact located in Ukraine (not in the US, UK, or Australia).
7. Treat freelance writers like their own employees (not as independent contractors). Not only it is unethical and immoral, but also illegal in civilized countries.
If there are more signs of essay research scam websites, your comments are welcome. Students have the right to protect themselves from unwanted risks and commercial exploitations.
